


I'll Be Your Mirror

by ominousrum



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, post 4x22 fic, space comfort we all need in canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-05 10:59:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11012073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ominousrum/pseuds/ominousrum
Summary: A tiny drabble simply because my brain needs it to be canon. Dedicated to dilkirani for being awesome. Title taken from the VU song.





	I'll Be Your Mirror

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dilkirani](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dilkirani/gifts).



The team didn’t get to interact often. Days were spent mostly working increasingly boring, perfunctory tasks. What little personal time they had was occupied with sleeping or just trying to hold on to some small part of themselves to not completely dissolve away. One thing they could rely on however, was the canteen. Three times a day for ten minute increments they could smile at one another, sit shoulder to shoulder and pretend that the new normal wasn’t chipping away at them bit by bit. 

Fitz preferred the far left corner. The bench across from it was cut off short so no one could sit opposite him and he could only be flanked on one side. Everyone took turns sitting next to him until he seemed to tailor his responses a bit too perfectly to his seatmate based on the obvious pattern. A curt nod for May, an inspection of the technology in his hand for Coulson, a motorcycle question for Mack. Conversations that never really went anywhere but served to placate everyone became Fitz’s specialty.

Soon only Daisy and Jemma bothered to make any effort to engage in real conversation. Daisy eventually succumbing to a stream of curses and Jemma falling into sullen silence whenever frustration found their respective breaking points. Still, they kept at it. Daisy was the only one who could occasionally elicit a laugh from him and although Fitz and Jemma didn’t say much to one another, Fitz visibly relaxed whenever she was near.

One day Jemma, thoroughly annoyed with a quiet breakfast, plunked herself down next to him full of especially fierce, focused determination. Fitz’s hand gave an automatic shake.

“Fitz,” Jemma began softly, staring at the amorphous blob of food on her tray. “Do you miss me?”

Fitz lifted his eyes to her face for a fleeting second, mouth remaining decidedly closed.

“Because I’ve wanted to give you time to heal and process everything and I can certainly continue to do that,” Jemma sighed, “I just don’t want it to be at the cost of losing you.”

She turned to him then, a ghost of a smile on her lips. They hadn’t so much as held hands since their embrace in the pod and the ache of not being able to touch him only seemed to be growing stronger.

“I.. I don’t _deserve_ to miss you, Jemma.” His admission was like a small shard of glass had found its way into her lungs.

“I don’t remotely believe that and that wasn’t what I asked you.”

“Jemma-“

“You meant what you said in the containment module, didn’t you?” Jemma could feel her lip starting to quaver and willed any crack in her voice away. “That your love would never fade?”

“I didn’t know you’d heard that.” Fitz bowed his head low to his chest.

“Well I did. And I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make you believe my love won’t fade either.”

Jemma stared into the sadness on his face, eyes pleading with his to gaze back at her. She waited until the bell rang out to signify lunch was over before calmly taking her full tray to the bin.

When dinner rolled around, Jemma sat beside Daisy; refusing to even glance in Fitz’s direction. She needed to regroup; to take a bit of time to sulk, pointless though it may be. She needed time to mourn the loss of their effortless interactions again. It had been painful enough the first time around.

It wasn’t until she felt Daisy’s arm leave from around her shoulders that she bothered to look up, finding Fitz standing next to her. In a flash Daisy had picked up both her and Coulson’s trays and kicked Coulson’s chair hard enough that he took the hint to vacate his seat. Jemma watched them retreat, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Do you mind if I..?” Fitz gestured to the table with the edge of his tray.

Jemma slid slowly to make room, that and a half-hearted shrug her only answer. Fitz sat down, pushing his tray a few inches from him. In lighter days Jemma would have made a quip about Fitz not eating, but the tension wasn’t hers to break.

A minute or two passed with neither even pretending to pick up a utensil. Then Fitz reached out his hand to place it on top of hers, neatly folded in her lap. Jemma let her eyes close a moment, a smile spreading across her face before she turned to him. Fitz’s eyes still held some trepidation but Jemma was thankful to see love shining in them once more.

“You’re everything to me, Jemma. I don’t intend to let anything tear us apart again. Even if it’s me I have to fight with.”

“ _We_ will fight it. Fight for us.”

“Yeah,” Fitz smiled. “We will.”

By the time the last bell rang, Jemma’s head had taken up its familiar spot in the crook of Fitz’s neck, the rest of the team grinning in relief as they passed by.


End file.
